Candor Gone Brave
by SomeoneYouKnowXOXO
Summary: Can Christina, a Candor member, survive her Aptitude test and the Choosing Ceremony? What if she has to switch and leave her family behind? Or is she going to be stuck where she doesn't belong?


Chapter 1

"Christina?" A pause. "Christina?" My little sister, Rose, kept calling. I was pretending to be asleep. It's hard to-

especially for me because I have to fool another Candor member. But, I managed to fool Rose. Poor girl. I groaned as if to

warn that she woke me. I rolled. Big mistake. I rolled and fell face-first with a thud onto my not-so-soft white carpet. "Christina!"

Rose called as she tried to help me up. I eventually let her help me because denying it won't do me any good.

"Are you ok?" She asked, concerned. Adorable. "Yeah yeah I'm fine. What's

today?" I said groggily. "Today is your Aptitude test day! Get up get up get up!" Now I was annoyed. "Jeez Rose! Chill

out and go away. I need to get ready." I complained. "Fine!" She snapped as she scurried from my room. We were ALWAYS

having to be honest with each other just because we were in Candor. Our faction, Candor, is dedicated to honesty because

our ancestors believe that duplicity was one of the reasons why the world "Outside the Fence" was destroyed. So, as one of

the rules, we are NOT allowed to lie. Soon I'm just standing in my bedroom, staring at my half-awake self. My short dark-but-not-black

hair was sticking up everywhere so that I looked like this guy called Einstein. After about ten minutes, I finally had my hair under control.

I put some bright red lipstick on because, for one, I can wear whatever makeup I want, and two, because it stood out in a good way against my

dark skin. Sooner or later I got dressed in standard Candor uniform, a white and black polo and black slacks. Since my faction is dedicated to

honesty, we use black and white to symbolize the difference between the truth and the lies. The other four factions, Abnegation,

Dauntless, Erudite, and Amity, all have different ways of living. Different morals, clothes, hair, houses, and even meals

are different! One thing is the same. We all go to the same school. "Christina! Are you almost ready dear? Aptitude tests

today!" "I know that Mom. I'll be down in a little." I said as I sat down on my bed for what could almost be my last time.

The Aptitude tests determine what faction you will go into once you turn sixteen. We make a life-altering decision. And I get to

decide my fate tomorrow.

When I arrive at school later that day, I immediately go to my locker where my best friend and my other so-called friends

usually wait for me. I look over and I only see my best friend Ashley Engle waiting for me. "Hey Christina!" Ashley calls

when she sees me coming. "Hey Ashley! Where's Peter, Drew, and Molly?" Those people are my so-called friends. We all used

to be best friends until Peter decided to start being a jerk about a month ago. He took Drew and Molly with him. "Here I

am Miss Perfection. Now, watch out of my way." Peter says behind me, and before I can move, he shoves me into the lockers.

"Hey Peter," I call at his back. "Why have you been such a snobby, stuck up jerk lately? Huh? Why?" A small crowd has

gathered now, and they're watching me and Peter go at it. He sharply turns around and fluently walks back at me with his poker face on.

He gets all up in my face and I can smell his stale breath. "Because. I. Can."He says each word sharply in my face. I stand my ground.

I look straight at him. "Good bye you sorry excuse for a Candor."He says in my face.

The words are a blow below the belt. He turns and swiftly walks away with Molly and Drew in tow. "I

HATE YOU PETER! YOU DIRTY TRAITORS!" I yell at them. This time, they don't turn around. My eyes start stinging. "Oh my

gosh Christina. That was awful. Well, you deserve better friends than those jerks anyways. C'mon, lets go to class."

Ashley says comfortingly as she puts her arm around me. The crowd of bystanders has disappeared by now so we could walk freely to math,

and I didn't shed one tear for Peter. And I won't- not now, not ever.

After six more boring, unactionless periods of class, we go to lunch. Because of the Aptitude tests, it was only a half

day, so after the tests, we got to leave. We, as in Ashley and I, find our usual table. We sit at it and I really realize

now that every faction has split up in the lunch room. It's as if we have boundaries. Lunch was quite simple, and as we

are waiting for the tests, I notice how everyone is trying to at least keep their minds off of what's about to happen.

There is a group of Amity girls playing a hand slapping game on the floor with a weird song, there are the Erudite reading

since that's all they EVER do, there's the Abnegation, sitting quietly and patiently like they always to, there's the

Dauntless, and they're laughing loudly, talking, and they're playing cards, and there is my faction. There is a group of

boys at the end of my table arguing and gesturing with their hands, but they must not be arguing about something really

serious because they were still smiling. Then I more or less started paying attention to the names. Ten randomly called

names go up. "...Susan Black and Beatrice Prior." Two almost identical Abnegation girls get up from sitting next to each other.

I can only tell them apart because one is a little bit shorter than the other.

There are eight Abnegation proctors, one Erudite proctor, and one Dauntless proctor. One for each room. All those people disappear

and soon I can feel the nervousness creeping up on me. My hands have started shaking and my foot won't stop it's nervous

tap. "Christina, did you hear me?" Ashley says from next to me. "Um, no. Sorry. I was watching the people walk up to face

their 'doom'." I say, laughing a nervous laugh at the end. Ashley laughs, but she doesn't sound nervous. Huh. "Hey! They

just called your name! Go!" Ashley says as she slightly pushes me. "Good luck!" She says as I walk away. "To you too!" I call back. She smiles. I turn around and

take a deep breath, and releasing it slowly. I walk forward as confidently as I can. I muster what courage I have and will

my self forward, just a little bit quicker. I smile a small smile and look at who will be my proctor. "Hello Christina. I

am Roger North, and I will be your proctor today. Are you ready to go?" I nod a little. He was Abnegation. "Follow me." We

walk past the double doors and my heart is hammering. Adrenaline is coursing through my veins, and soon, we stop a room

eight. When we step into the room, I look around. There is a dentist looking chair, another small, foldable chair next to

the chair, and next to the chairs is a machine. A small end table with a metal pitcher-looking thing sits there. The walls

are only mirrors, and all I see is myself. I look scared. My knees and hands are shaking slightly, my eyes are wide and

full of fear, and my mind is racing along with my heart, as if to see who could win that race. "Have a seat and get

comfortable." I slowly and cautiously walk toward the chair and sit down. Since I'm tall, My feet are almost to the end.

Roger sits down in the foldable chair next to me and starts putting electrodes on my forehead and his. I start shaking

even more. Roger reaches behind him and pours a neon blue liquid into a vial. "Drink this." "What is it and what does it

do?" I say, my voice cracking. "I apologize, but I cannot say. Just drink this." I believe him and tip the blue liquid

back and I drink the contents. I close my eyes and it goes black.

I "wake up" in the cafeteria, but it's empty besides the tables. On the table in front of me there is a knife almost as

long as my forearm, and to the right of that, there is a basket with cheese in it. "Choose." Says a disembodied female

voice. I immediately go for and grab the knife. I've never use one except to cut the dinner. This was no kitchen tool. The

basket disappears and the voice says, "Good luck." As it fades out. Then, I feel a floor shaking, bone knocking growl that

sounds like its coming from a large beast. I turn in a circle, looking for the source of the noise. My blood pounding in

my ears is almost all I can hear now. I try to breathe steady, but it isn't working. I finally turn back to where I was and I see a

large dog. He is low, growling, and looking like he is about to attack. I raise my knife arm to defend myself, and the dog pounces.

I thrust the knife out as far as it would go and I hear a sickening sound. Like a SQUASH SQUISH THUD and then the dog's body

hits the ground and the blood is going everywhere. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I just released it in a sign of relief. What

came next was instantaneous. In the next part, when I "woke up", I open my eyes and realized I was on a public bus. There

was nobody there except me and this broad shouldered, scarred faced man with a newspaper. His clothing didn't suggest he

was from a specific faction, and he was holding a newspaper. On the front it read "Brutal Murderer Finally Apprehended!" I

thought of how I just killed the dog. "Do you know this man?" He says in a deep grumbling voice. I look at the picture and

I can't recall if I do or not. I just shake my head no and look out the window. "You could save me! You know this man and

I know it!" He stands up and gets up in my face. I can smell his breath. It is stale like Peter's, and the thought of that

jerk sends a cold chill over me. "You know him! You won't save me!" He was yelling in my face. "I don't have a clue who

that man is!" I yell at him. I usually NEVER lie, so it's a new feeling to me. I feel only a little guilty, but otherwise,

I'm weirdly proud that I didn't cave into the crave to tell the truth. The world goes dark again and when I "wake up"

again, I find myself in a room, but it's so dark I can barely see the walls. All the sudden, the room brightens from a

light I can't see. The light dims again, and another table is in front of me. On this table, there is a gun with eight

bullets, a mirror, a fruit basket, a blanket, and a backpack that's empty. "Choose wisely." A different disembodied voice

says. I grab the gun with the bullets and I grab the black backpack. I know I can protect myself with a gun. Everything

else disappears. A door appears at the end and I step into a well lit meadow. But, instead of seeing lush green, all I see

is dead grass and trees for miles. There is my family, huddling in a circle in the middle of the meadow. They are shaking

and staring, wide-eyed. They are staring at something over my head. I run towards them, and when I get there, they don't

respond. I yell and grab arms, but not one person moves. They are still staring off in the distance and shaking. I turn

and look. Then I see what they're staring at. There is a large mass of faceless men with guns coming at us. I stop and

stare wide-eyed. Soon, they were going to be here, and how am I supposed to protect my family? There are more than eight

of them. We're doomed. I stand in front of my family, ready to protect them. But all the sudden, they charge ahead, and I

topple over. Laying on the ground, I realize they took the gun from me, and they were almost to the faceless people.

That's how close the men were. They were holding up their guns. "NO!" I yelled, sprinting to them. I took the gun back

and fired the bullets I had. Then, I huddled with my family, waiting for death to strike. Before I died, the world went

black and I literally woke up in the dentist style chair with Roger taking the electrodes off our heads. He was silent.

Letting me realize that was all fake, and I'm still alive, and my family is still alive. I started crying. I curled up in

a ball on the seat and sobbed. After I let that out, Roger stood up. I wiped my eyes, sniffed, and stood up. I am almost

as tall as Roger, so I stand almost eye level. My eyes look really red and puffy in the mirror I see. My cheeks are red

and my face is too pale. My hands are still shaking. "Christina, your Aptitude test results are confidential. You must not

tell a single person what happened here today. Your test result... Dauntless. By taking the knife and the gun with bullets

suggested Dauntless, and you couldn't be Candor because you lied to the man on the bus. That's why I had to bring up the

family scenario. And now you are free to go. Remember, don't tell anyone about your results." I only nodded, not trusting

my voice. I stumbled my way to the door and walked over to the exit. How. Will. I. Become. And. Stay. Dauntless.

I walked out the door and turned around in a circle. I didn't know which door was enter an which one was exit. It wasn't

until I looked out of my daze and saw the neon red sign saying "Exit" above the door to my right. I stumble out of the

door and squint at the sun. I trip, fall, and just lay there for a minute. More people come out and stare at me but I

don't care. We are all pale, clammy, and in shock. I get up and make my way to the transportation stop. It's silent and

there is about fifteen or twenty of us waiting. One Amity girl fell to the ground and sobbed. The bus pulls up and all of

us load the bus. The Erudite get off first, then Dauntless, then the Amity, and finally it's my stop. The Abnegation will

get off the bus last. I walk home in a daze, and I pass the Merciless Market on my way. That's how I know I'm almost

there. My mind is still reeling because of the Aptitude test. I get to my house and fumble to get my house key from under

the mat. I unlock the door, shut it behind me and go straight to my room. This will be my last night in my own room in

Candor. A single year rolls down my cheek. But wait: I won't have to deal with Peter! Or Molly! Not even Drew! I start

laughing out loud, and it sounds strangled. Eventually, I stop laughing and I doze off.

"Christina honey? Wake up! Dinner time!" I distantly hear my Mom's voice. I pry my eyes open. It's dark outside my window

so I know I slept for a couple hours. I feel better now than earlier. "Christina, c'mon. Dinner is ready, so let's go eat.

But, I recommend washing your face first." "'Kay." I say kinda sleepily. My mom leaves the room and I look on my mirror.

Now I see why. My lipstick is smeared all over the lower half of my face. I run to the bathroom across from my room and I

can hear my family downstairs. I scrub my face and wash my hands. I'm going to have to strip and switch out my bed covers

too. I groan out loud. I make my way downstairs where I can smell the spaghetti and meatballs. They made me favorite food

the day before I leave. Do they know? Or are the oblivious? My eyes burn. I stare at the bright hallway light so the tears

don't come. "Christina! Come for dinner! I can see your shadow!" "I'm coming mom!" I love her but sometimes she can be a

thorn in my side. I go down to the dining room where my mom and Rose are waiting. We have freedom of religion, as we

believe in the Bible and God, so we pray before we eat dinner. It's my turn to pray. I wonder who will pray for me when

I'm gone. "Dear Heavenly Father, bless this food that we are about to eat. We praise your name and all things through you.

Please forgive us of our sins that we have committed and please bless this family. Amen." We all open our eyes and engulf

in our food. "So, Christina, what did your test say?" "I am not allowed to say Rose. Your not supposed to ask and I'm not

supposed to answer." I reply. "Hmf! Fine!" She is stubborn, but I love her. I hope Rose and mom do fine without me here.

Chapter 2

"Today is the day" is the first thing I think when I wake up. I just lay there for a minute soaking it all in. I felt

like crying, but that would be cowardish. Ugh, now I sound Dauntless. Just the thought of being Dauntless in a couple

hours is crazy to me. I get up and dress in my more formal Candor outfit, I put on a little lipstick, and I brush my hair

to make it look nice. I already felt the nervousness creeping up on me. "Christina?" I heard my mom outside my door. She

knocked slightly. "Come in." I say. She opens the door and her once-over and small smile shows that she approves. I smile

back at her. "Are you ready?" "I don't know." I respond, my voice cracking at the end. My mom opens her arms and I

practically run into them. I almost cry. I have to bend my neck downwards quite a bit because I'm almost a head taller

than my mom. "Christina, it will be fine. Rose and I will be fine where ever you go." "But-" "No, no 'buts'. I know that

you are going to switch because I can see it in your eyes. It's been haunting you. We'll be fine, you will go on to do

great things, and you'll do fine. I know this because I'm your mother and I love you." Tears welted up in my eyes and one

single tear slipped down my cheek. "I love you too mom." I say, sounding strangled. We hug and stand there for what feels

like forever. We let go and back away, and that's when I realize my mom was about to cry. "Aww don't cry mom. As you said,

it'll all be fine." "O.K. let's go." Since my mom has a car, we get to take her car to the Hub, a giant building that was

once called "The SunTrust Building". From our house, it's about a twenty minute drive, and our drive is a twenty minute

drive of silence. Rose isn't allowed to come along because she's underage, and the faction leaders believe that isn't fair

to those who don't have older siblings who go to the Choosing Ceremony. My nervousness starts creeping up on me again,

and soon I feel like I have no air left in my lungs. That's when I realize I'm hyperventilating. "Christina honey, will you

be alright?" My concerned mother says from the driver's seat next to me. I only nod my head yes as I try to calm my

breathing. Once I get my breathing down to an almost normal rate, I look up and realize that we were there. In that

building, only moments from now, I will be deciding the rest of my life in front of most of each faction.

My mom and I get out if the car and make or way over to the door. There are five different doors. One for each faction.

We make our way over to the door that has scales over it. We can see the distinct line that forms out from the mouth of

the door. You can see each faction- blue, red and yellow, black, grey, black and white. My heart is hammering as if it is trying

to escape its cage. My mom has to go into the main building so I'm left alone in The Candor

line scared out of my mind. Heart-racing, I wait another 20 minutes before I can check in. "... You Christina?"

"Um... Yeah..." I reply back to the check in lady. "Ok. Go ahead and good luck." She says to me. I take small steps

forward and then I'm in the building that will house me as I decide my fate. I walk over to where the other 16 year old

Candor members wait. I take a seat next to a larger kid named Albert and a pretty girl named Anna. None of us speak.

Jeanine Matthews is the one who has wen decide to do all the taking this year. "Welcome everyone. I am Jeanine Matthews

and I am the leader of Erudite. We are gathered here today to welcome young adults into our society..." She went on and I

was too nervous to even listen. There were five large bowls that represent each faction. Each bowl has the faction's

element in it. Abnegation has smooth grey stones, Candor has glass, Erudite is a light blue tinted water, Amity is soil,

and Dauntless is lit coals. The girl, Anna, bumps me. They called my name. "Oh my god." I muttered. I slowly made my way

down the steps. My heart beat even faster. Everyone's eyes bore into my back and on me. I walk up and take the silver

knife from Jeanine. I take a huge gulp of air and slice my palm. I close my eyes briefly and hold my hand over the

Dauntless coals. I am not honest enough for Candor. I am brave and I am Dauntless.

I walk over to where the Dauntless are cheering for me. I take a seat in one of the few seats left for the initiates and

look at the other transfers are sitting. Most of them are Dauntless, but I see a couple other Candor. "Oh my gosh." I

mutter. The other transfers are Peter, Drew, and Molly. I also see a kid named Albert, but I don't really know him. I

start panicking. This can't be happening. Being stuck with them means "Doom" and "Hell waiting to break loose". There is

also something else very strange- an Abnegation girl, I think either she's Susan or Beatrice, has transferred to

Dauntless. That's only been done one other time before. Now, the final kid is going up- Jenna Amarza- an Amity girl, is

staying in her faction. Now that we're done, I see that the Dauntless are getting up and getting ready to go. I see that

the Abnegation are staying behind to help clean and I see one set of parents crying. Only one. The Dauntless in front of

me start running and soon, the slapping of our shoes running down the stairs and across pavement is becoming rhythmic. I

smile, and using my long legs, sprit towards the front of the group. "We're jumping on a train!" "Does it stop?" "Why?"

Are common things I hear the transfers yelling. I stay quiet. We have stopped in front of the tracks and in the distance,

I see a ball of light coming at us. I am ready. I am Dauntless. I watch the more experienced Dauntless jump onto the train

before running at the train myself. I latch my hand onto the handle, and for one moment, I thought I was going to die. My

adrenaline starts pumping harder, and I pull myself into the cart. I see the Abnegation girl, I think her name is

Beatrice, and she beckons me to sit down because I can't hear her over the wind. "What?" I yell once we're sitting. "The

wind blowing into the train could cause us to fall!" she yells back. "I'm Christina! Who are you?" I yell. "I'm Beatrice!

Nice to meet you!" She yells. She smiles at me, and immediately know we're going to be friends.


End file.
